Interview: The Spindle Sect

What’s better than local music? Local music kicking ass overseas, of course. The Spindle Sect’s bass monster and production maestro, The SciFientist, chats to MusicReview.

In 2008, The Spindle Sect left South Africa for the UK. Do you ever see the band relocating to South Africa again, or is London your home for good?

The SciFientist: Well, we don’t really see it as a relocation, per say; we like to think of it as an extended tour. South Africa will always be home.

Do you see more and more SA bands permanently landing up in London in the near future?

The SciFientist: Not really. I only know of one or two that have managed to stick it out. It’s a tough game over here; the “First World” takes no prisoners.

Quite recently, you added Starseed’s drummer, Andy Spence, to your ranks. Did you fear that the rest of his band was going to come after The Spindle Sect for pinching their drummer?

The SciFientist: Lucky for them, they’re too sh*t scared of us to try anything! Jokes aside, we’re all pretty tight and Andy’s priority will always be Starseed. Besides, we’re on a “we break him, we buy him” deal.

You’ve shared the stage with the likes of Ill Nino, (hed)p.e., and Senser. Are there still moments when you think, “Holy sh*t! This is really happening?”

The SciFientist: Yeah! Daily! And we’re not stopping. Especially after just coming off tour with (hed)p.e., all we want is to keep that momentum.

Debut album, Bubonic Tronic, has dropped. What’s the plan with this album? Do you plan on touring off of it for a long time, or is it just another step in the bigger plan?

The SciFientist: We are super proud of this album; we all put in a sh*tload of work. We learnt a lot about the sound we wanted working with Dave Schiffman, who worked with Limp Bizkit, System of a Down, NIN, to name a few. Excuse the name dropping, but it gives you an idea of what it’s about…big! And we want to give it its due time to shine; although, we have begun writing the next one. So, prolific is the plan!

The SciFientist: We are looking at doing ‘Breakneck’ for the next video. We will take a completely different approach on this one, though. Something a bit more narrative and true to the concept; we’ve always been a sci-fi band, and we want to pull from that a bit more in our next one.

Any plans to tour outside the UK in 2012? Maybe, in South Africa, for example…

The SciFientist: Yes, indeed. We’re looking to get back to SA for a summer tour. Stay tuned!